Search's Requiem
Happy Friday, everyone! This week we’re going to have a moment of silence for search as Amazon and Google roll out some dramatic changes that should reshape how consumers answer questions. We’ll also highlight a few of the most interesting stories coming out of the annual Upfronts. Let’s get to it!
Requiem for Traditional Search
TL;DR – AI is a topic that we can’t seem to get away from (and for good reason!) How AI is changing search has been front and center recently and given the importance of the channel, I wanted to collect a few recent announcements that I believe will have a meaningful impact on consumer behavior:
Amazon launches an AI shopping assistant for the search bar, powered by Alexa+ (TechCrunch - LINK) - Rufus, we hardly knew ye. The generative AI chatbot which Amazon introduced in 2024 is being replaced by “Alexa for Shopping” powered by Alexa+. The upgraded experience is intended to offer a voice- and touch-enabled shopping experience across mobile, desktop, and Echo Show smart displays. The new experience builds on Rufus’ discovery and comparison features by adding the ability to track prices and schedule recurring orders. Additionally, the feature will learn from shoppers’ habits and purchase histories to create a more personalized experience over time.
Google Gets ‘Intelligent’ Search Box Redesign, Information Agents, Mini Apps, & More (9to5Google - LINK) - After 25 years of typing keywords into a search bar and scanning blue links, Google is blowing up the traditional search experience. They are introducing an Intelligent Search Box that expands for longer, conversational queries and uses AI to suggest more complex questions. Voice and image search are more closely integrated and it also makes it easier to add images or videos into a query. Users will also be able to deploy “information agents” within Google Search that work in the background 24/7 to track changes on the web and alert you to new information - effectively Google Alerts on AI steroids.
‘Ask YouTube’ Brings AI-Powered Conversational Search to Video, Adds Gemini Omni to Shorts (TechCrunch - LINK) - Like Google’s core search product, YouTube’s search bar is getting a glow up with AI tools like “Ask YouTube.” This will allow users to conduct more complex searches and will actively pose follow up questions to help a user refine results. YouTube will then compile both Shorts and long-form videos and generate a response. But why stop there, Google is also adding conversational AI features to Gmail with “Gmail Live” (TechCrunch - LINK.)
Google’s New Universal Cart Wants to Follow your Entire Shopping Journey Across the Internet (TechCrunch - LINK) - To connect this new discovery phase of the consumer journey to conversion, Google is introducing the Universal Cart. The new feature is a centralized AI-driven hub that allows users to track deals, monitor price changes, and add products from across Google platforms like Search and YouTube. The system uses AI to analyze cross-merchant purchases for potential compatibility issues and offers direct checkout or seamless transfers to merchant sites. Additionally, Google unveiled the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), allowing users to authorize AI agents to securely and autonomously complete purchases within specified spending limits and brand guardrails.
Matt’s Hot Take™ - For the last quarter century or so, consumers have relied upon search engines to find and learn about literally everything — products, entertainment, health advice, vacation ideas, you name it. From there, we’ve explored countless blue links and sponsored product ads to find whatever it is that we were looking for. But today, the rise of AI-powered experiences is quickly making these decades-old habits look like the tech equivalent of churning butter. We’re clearly at an inflection point where the application of AI is becoming more integrated into existing behaviors and thus quickly becoming our new baseline. As search engines evolve from being discovery platforms into true transaction intermediaries, brands (and retailers) run the risk of losing the ability to influence consumer behavior. Brands now have two clear paths to success — either have such strong brand equity that consumers look for your product directly — or have so much authority across many touch points that your brand gets cited by the AI-platforms surfacing recommendations and over time, completing purchases.
The Biggest Announcements from the Upfronts
TL;DR – Each spring, the media community gathers in New York City for the annual Upfronts to learn about the latest in content and platform innovation. Amid the branded hors d’oeuvres, awkward mid-day musical performances, and countless celebrities feigning excitement to be presenting to jaded media execs, there was a lot of great content to take in. Here are a few highlights that stood out to me:
Microdramas Go Mainstream - Microdramas have been gaining traction over the past few years but have largely lived outside of mainstream platforms. NBCU is looking to change that by making a bet on the format inside of their Peacock app (TechCrunch - LINK.) They are planning to launch two unscripted Bravo microdramas with episodes clocking in between 60 to 90 seconds. The format is already huge in China and it will be interesting to see if it can catch on in the US.
Creators Enter the Upfront - Kinda. The traditional model that has existed between creators and brands has been one where the creator either produces content and then monetizes it on various platforms or strikes one off deals for sponsored posts. YouTube is looking to bring brands in much earlier to effectively source upfront commitments for their biggest creators (New York Times - LINK.) This follows moves from Netflix and Amazon to sign (and fund) popular creators like Ms. Rachel, Mark Rober, and Mr. Beast to produce exclusive content for their platforms.
More Sports in More Places - Perhaps the least surprising (but still important) trend we saw during the Upfronts was a continued focus on live sports. Netflix is expanding their partnership with the NFL (Wall Street Journal - LINK) while NBCU (AdWeek - LINK) and Amazon (Digiday - LINK) (and pretty much everyone else) had sports front and center during their presentations.
Matt’s Hot Take™ - The Upfronts should provide some inspiration of what is coming and what is possible. Personally I’m most interested in seeing how the creator space continues to mature. My guess is we don’t totally get away from ridiculous influencer trips and obviously forced sponsored content but deeper, insight-driven partnerships should hopefully replace some of this nonsense. Additionally, it’s important to note that pretty much everyone was talking about full-funnel measurement and the importance of contextual relevance over reach alone. I totally subscribe to this thinking but I don’t think this happens without robust partnerships to add scale and credibility as activation and measurement inside of a silo is a recipe for failure. Regardless of what you lean into it’s important to continue to test, be ready to scale, and remember that this year’s plan won’t win next year – what got us here likely won’t get us there.
Quick Hits
The TV Ad Market Is Being Taken Over by Streaming Platforms (Wall Street Journal - LINK) – Streaming television’s viewership growth has been well reported over the past couple of years with overall viewing time essentially reaching parity with linear television in the last year. Meanwhile, advertising dollars have lagged linear investments given the large percentage of viewers who have historically paid for ad-free subscriptions. However, new data is signaling that the advertising opportunity is catching up to the behavior shift and it’s expected that streaming ad revenue will approach linear revenue by 2029. A big driver is that ad-supported plans now represent almost 50% of all premium subscription video-on-demand sign-ups in the U.S., up from 39% just two years ago. Even more telling is that over the past nine quarters, ad tiers drove 78% of the nearly 65 million net subscriber adds across the major streamers. Additionally, there continues to be more live sports inventory available that commands engaged eyes and the premium price that goes along with them.
While showing up in the right place is half of the battle, the opportunity lies in not simply shifting linear dollars into streaming but tapping into the advanced targeting and measurement capabilities that come along with this channel.
TikTok Now Wants to be the Place you Book the Trip You Just Saw on TikTok (TechCrunch - LINK) - TikTok just announced that they are launching TikTok GO, a way for users to discover and book hotels, attractions, and experiences directly within its app through partnerships with Booking.com, Expedia, and others. Additionally, creators who showcase hotels, attractions, and experiences can connect their content directly to bookings, with opportunities to earn through commissions and creator campaigns. If all of this sounds like a page out of the TikTok Shop playbook, you’d be correct. This builds on TikTok’s strategy to position the platform as more than just a discovery engine but rather a bonafide commerce platform.
Instagram’s New ‘Instants’ Feature Combines Elements from Snapchat and BeReal (TechCrunch - LINK) - The social giant just just launched a new feature lets users share disappearing photos with their close friends or mutual followers that can be viewed only once and remain available for 24 hours. Instagram sourced inspiration (::cough::stole::cough::) from platforms like Snapchat and BeReal who have historically focused on more authentic and ephemeral content. Meta has a strong track record of scaling features and apps but I’m not sure this one is addressing an actual user need as Stories is already widely used for in-the-moment sharing. Time will tell but I’m not bullish on this one.
